Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 – 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Uenishi et al. (US Pub. No. 2003/0013533 A1).
As to claims 1, 10 and 11, Uenishi shows a program causing a computer to function (Fig. 1 and para. 17), an associated apparatus (Fig. 1 and para. 16) and methodology (Fig. 4 and para. 71) including: an output sound manager (i.e. CPU 1, Fig. 2 and para. 60) configured to manage management information (i.e. volume, raising time falling time, etc., Fig. 4 and paras. 69, 72 and 74) in which identification information for identifying one or multiple output sounds (i.e. cheering, output sound A, output sound B, etc., Fig. 3 and para. 69) being output at a current time point (t1, t5, etc. Fig. 3 and para. 69) and information indicating an output start timing of each of the one or multiple output sounds are associated with each other (i.e. configuring rising/falling rates, Figs. 3 and 4 and paras. 69, 72 and 74); a caller (i.e. CPU 1/voice data reading section 101) configured to call an event of controlling the output sound (Figs. 2 and 3 and paras. 65 and 69); a determination unit (i.e. CPU 1/output instructing section 102) configured to, based on the event, determine the output sound to be newly output (Figs. 2 and 3 and paras. 66 and 69); a calculator (i.e. CPU 1/volume instructing section 103) configured to, based on the event, calculate details of volume adjustment to be performed for each of the one or multiple output sounds being output at the current time point (i.e. adjust relative volume, Figs. 2 and 4 and paras. 67 and 69), based on a time difference between the output start timing of each of the one or multiple output sounds being output at the current time point and the current time point (i.e. configuring rising/falling rates, Figs. 3 and 4 and paras. 69, 72 and 74); and an output sound controller (volume controlling section 111) configured to output the output sound determined to be newly output (Figs. 2 and 3 and paras. 68 – 70), and adjust each of the one or multiple output sounds being output at the current time point, based on the calculated details of the volume adjustment (Figs. 2 and 3 and paras. 68 – 70).
As to claim 2, Uenishi shows that the output sound manager registers the identification information and the output start timing of the output sound determined to be newly output with the management information (Fig. 2 and paras. 60 – 70).
As to claim 3, Uenishi shows that the calculator calculates a decrease amount of the volume, based on the time difference (Fig. 3 and para. 77), and the calculator calculates a larger decrease amount as the time difference increases (Fig. 3 and para. 77).
As to claim 6, Uenishi shows a method of calculating the details of the volume adjustment is different for each event (Fig. 3 and para. 77).
As to claim 7, Uenishi shows that the output sound controller continues control of adjusting each of the one or multiple output sounds being output at the current time point based on the details of the volume adjustment up to a time point at which a predetermined time has elapsed since a time point at which the control is started, and cancels the control after the predetermined time has elapsed (i.e. a duration of the pre-recorded sound effect, Figs. 2 and 3 and paras. 68 – 70).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 8 and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
CONCLUSION
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/CARL ADAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2627
